New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta would leave for China on Tuesday to meet her counterpart Qin Gang, reported the Guardian.
This would be the first visit to Beijing by a New Zealand foreign minister since 2019.
Ahead of the ministerial meeting with the Chinese envoy, Mahuta affirmed that she would raise the concerns about "key security challenges" at the meeting, such as the “illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine”
advocate for outcomes reflecting New Zealand’s values on human rights issues, as per media reports.
“New Zealand’s relationship with China is one of our most important, complex and wide ranging,” said New Zealand’s foreign minister, Nanaia Mahuta.
Further, she added: “I intend to discuss areas where we cooperate, such as on trade, people-to-people and climate and environmental issues.”
Meanwhile, on Monday, while addressing at a post-cabinet press conference, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said Bejing was “a very important relationship to New Zealand”
it was “important that we reestablish those in-person opportunities to engage country-to-country”.
Going further, Hipkins added: "I certainly haven’t taken off the table the potential for me to visit China at some point later this year.”